Sunday, May 22, 2016

Sam
Patterson was hands down the most popular boy at school. He not only had lead
their football and basketball teams to championships, he was an excellent
student with a 4.0 GPA, and was humble and kind. It did not hurt matters that
he was good looking and had eyes that twinkled when he smiled. Although he was popular and everyone wanted
to be seen with him; he never felt there was anyone he could trust. People had
a specific image of him and in their eyes he was perfect in every way.

Sam
Patterson held a large secret that those around him would never suspect. He had
been born an only child to a runaway mother. He had no knowledge of who his
father was. They lived together in a rundown apartment complex on the edge of
town and often had stale bread and water for dinner. His mother never finished
her education and tried to get whatever work she could, which included selling
herself to the highest bidder. In the
beginning of 1957, when Sam was ten, his mom just didn’t wake up; Sam set off
on his own.

By
the time he reached high school he was street savvy and could fool just about
anyone about his home life. The reality
was that Sam was a great thief, stealing all of the clothes he ever wore. He
would offer services to wash dishes at the local restaurants for food; often
having enough left over for the next day. He had learned to survive on his own.
It was that skill that made him confident and the boy everyone wanted to be
around.

He
had a steady job after school every day and his boss allowed him time for
practices and games. He had no other extracurricular activities besides sports
and work. Everything he owned could be found in a duffle bag in a locker at the
bus station. Often he would find a quiet corner of the station to sleep; waking
early enough to get to school and shower. He had not counted on an Amanda
entering his life.

Carrying
books between classes turned into having lunch together which in turn became
sitting on the bleachers after school and talking. Neither Sam nor Amanda had
anyone waiting at home for them; neither one had anything else to do. Amanda
spilled her heart to Sam, explaining her early child of accolades, her father’s
disappearing, her mother’s inability to cope with reality, and her brother
being absent. She explained everything that was going on in her life and Sam
was a great listener. He would make
comments like, “That must be tough for you,” or “I am amazed at how strong you
are,” and “I feel so bad for you.” All
of these were words that Amanda had not realized she had longed to hear.

The couple
was never seen at the usual spots on Friday or Saturday nights; they did not
really have any other friends and began to rely on each other heavily. Amanda feared for the summer break that was
coming up. Sam seemed to sense her fear
as they sat together under a tree on the side of campus the first Friday in
June.

“Mands,”
Sam said, taking her hands in his as he looked into her eyes, “I have something
I need to tell you.”

Fearing
the worst, Amanda quietly replied, “Okay.”

“I
know school is out next week, and it seems like we are only together when we
are here, but I don’t want to have to miss you for summer vacation. Do you
think we could hang out during the summer?”

Exhaling
(not having realized she’d been holding her breath), she said, “I would really
like that.”

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Work is okay - found out I will have to travel to our plant in Mexico for the annual physical inventory. Will be there for a week.

Family life has gotten a bit rocky as my son (who has a 4 years old and an 11 month old) found out his wife was pregnant with another man's child. Let's just sy things are a bit bumpy right now - and I am trying my best to stay positive and not guide him in the wrong direction.

so - let's just say my mind is not really 100% focused where I would like. I probably will be intermittenly posting and unfortunately writing fiction is not happening right now.